An answer you don't want to hear
Reader comment on item: Moshe Sharon Explains Middle Eastern Realities

Submitted by Dan Schwartz (Cherry Hill, NJ) (United States), Sep 29, 2006 at 18:55

Professor Pipes closes out his article with the questions

In the first place... second, there are plenty of instances where Muslims lost territories and (again, grudgingly) came to terms with these realities. How many suicide bombers or battles of reconquest have there been in Sicily since 1091, in Spain since 1492, in Greece since 1821, or in India since 1867? Things change over time, never say never.

Reconquista can take on many forms: It can be peaceful, with millions of wetbacks pouring over our open Southern border, eventually being given amnesty by "country club Republicans" wanting cheap labor, conspiring with Democrats wanting to make these illegal aliens citizens and enabling a new generation of voters;

It can be violent, as in the 3/11 train bombings in Madrid [or as in India (and Jammu & Kashmir), with occurances too numerous to list here (without fancy HTML coding)].

Why did you include Spain and India in your list of places with heavy al-qaida activity?!

Dan Schwartz,
Cherry Hill, NJ

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Plenty of Al-Qaeda activity, to be sure, but no movement that I know of in either country explicitly aimed at re-establishing Muslim rule.